The following is a direct copy and has been Pasted in for future reference from the Art of Photography coursework PDF Doc. (pasted in Maroon)
3 or more photographs
You have already experimented earlier with different ways of cropping an image. Now select three of your own photographs. Each should be of a different subject. If on film, have them printed up or make copies to a reasonably large size, such as 8 x 10 inches. Then perform the same cropping project as you did for the landscape.
If digital, first print the original full frame, then crop and print again. Note the results in the form of tracing or sketches, with a brief note describing the logic behind your choice of cropping. You may find that, by having to find different pictures within photographs you have already taken, you look at the images in a fresh way.
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Equipment
Nikon D4
Nikon D800E
24/70 lens
Tripod
Method & Approach
In this exercise I took three photographs that I had previously used in the exercises. After choosing my images I then set about making up a pair of ‘L’ shaped cropping frames, as suggested black on one side and white on the other.
Please see pictures and captions below for visual understanding.
Note – all pictures have been compressed hence there will be a quality reduction when enlarging.
My three chosen images and also the ‘L’ shaped cropping frames that I made.
Deciding whether to go portrait or landscape.
My final decision on my choice of crop.
Here I have shown the picture prior to cropping, I also decided to rotate the original image as I feel it has a better balance in this orientation.
The final crop. This rhododendron flower is so detailed and sharp it was crying out to be cropped. It has also created an alternate picture.
This picture shows the crop frame around the original, I also put some work into this shot and remove the telegraph wires, which looking at the final cropped image below was well worth the effort.
This cropped image now makes the picture more about the birds and not the lake scene, the viewer is closer to the birds taking flight and in doing so the picture now carries more interest than before.
Again, a preview before the crop. I deliberately chose this picture because it offers a different kind of picture from the two above. It’s about a product rather than nature or landscape and when looking through manufacturers brochures or specification sheets there is nearly always an enlarged glossy picture of the business part of the product. Here I am referring to the most expensive part of the microphone ‘the capsule.’
This detailed enlargement shows the double meshed dome and sides surrounding the capsules gold membrane. A follow up picture in a manufactures brochure could be the same view but without the meshed cap and sides showing further detail about the products internals.
What have I learnt from this exercise
From this exercise I have learnt that using the ‘L’ shaped crop frames is so fast and easy, it also gives an instant verdict over Landscape or Portrait.
With regards to cropping, I now look deeper into every picture and have realised there are possibly several pictures in every pre-cropped image.
My Reflection
Having made the two ‘L’ shaped crop frames I will endeavour to use them …. they are so quick, and if viewing several images at once as a set you could gently pencil in the proposed orientation and new size.
stingray493 